<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Sally the Spy? by lifeaftermeteor</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29863662">Sally the Spy?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeaftermeteor/pseuds/lifeaftermeteor'>lifeaftermeteor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gundam Wing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Espionage, Gen, Intelligence Collection, Meta, Military Intelligence, Social engineering, Spies &amp; Secret Agents, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:02:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29863662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeaftermeteor/pseuds/lifeaftermeteor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Although fandom has consistently attributed Sally Po to some medical profession or specialization, this meta makes the case for an alternative career track: military intelligence.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Worldbuilding in the AC Universe</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sally the Spy?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In Episode 3, we are introduced to Major Sally Po at an Alliance military hospital in full uniform. Fandom has regularly attributed Sally with medical experience of some sort (and I believe auxiliary materials do in fact say as much). Military medical doctors are addressed by their rank and often wear their military uniform, so Sally being introduced to the audience as such is hardly unusual.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, her interaction with other staff in attendance illustrate that there is already suspicion that Heero may be a rebel intelligence operative and was carrying a disc drive that they are unable to decrypt. She also denies a suggestion to use truth serum—not on ethical grounds, mind you, but because doing so would risk poisoning a kid Heero’s age.  A rather pragmatic response.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sally ultimately has a puzzle that she needs to figure out.  It is at this point that Relena arrives, hoping to check in on Heero.  Although their  interaction here is brief—and ultimately cut short by Duo’s daring rescue—there is still enough dialogue to witness Sally use some basic human intelligence gathering techniques on Relena.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>First, she sets out to build rapport with Relena by referring to Heero as the “handsome man,” looking to speak to Relena on her terms as a teenage girl presumably interested in teenage boys. On the elevator ride up, she questions her further seeing to make friendly conversation, even apologizing on the off-chance that any questions have made Relena “uncomfortable,” leveraging common courtesy against Relena (i.e., encouraging her to answer as a means to prove she’s not uncomfortable).  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>By taking this approach, Sally quickly finds out that Relena is Darlian’s daughter, that the pilot’s name is “Heero,” and that Relena is reportedly a “close friend and classmate.”  Relena is therefore—at least potentially—an incredibly useful asset for Alliance Intelligence to take advantage of: Relena’s relationship to VFM Darlian gives them leverage and her proximity to Heero gives them access.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Relena quickly—and obviously—tries to wave off Sally’s suspicions, and Sally does give a little information of her own, enough to allow Relena to deduce that Heero is not part of the Alliance military.  Sally then brings Relena to the observation deck where she sees Heero’s restrained state, eliciting an emotional reaction from the girl.  Sally states that he will remain as such until he answers “some questions,” and then says, “Let’s go downstairs.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What would have transpired next is unclear because Duo arrives on-scene and breaks Heero free, causing a commotion and clearly lots of paperwork for the Alliance.  One could argue that Sally was escorting Relena out of the observation deck, either to guide her back to the exit to visit Heero to see if her presence would generate a change in the young man’s state.  This would likely be the medical doctor only route, if you were so inclined to believe.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As an intelligence officer, there could be two other alternatives depending on the speed at which Sally needed to move (and how much cover she had from higher up the chain).  The first would still be to take Relena to Heero, but use her as a pressure point on him. If Heero was with the resistance and wanted to keep civilian involvement to a minimum, then perhaps Relena’s expectation that they were “friends” could be used as a lever against him and encourage him to give Sally critical information.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The second would be to take Relena to an interview room and farm her for additional details. When, where, how did Relena and Heero meet? Who else are their friends? How long have they been friends? Do her parents know about him? Couched in a conversational style and feigning general curiosity, Sally could elicit and socially engineer the conversation to her advantage to get whatever information was useful.  Later, she could potentially use Relena’s involvement with Heero—as much or as little though it may be—to gain additional collateral over VFM Darlian himself should the need arise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obviously there is far more to human intelligence gathering than what’s described here and social engineering takes time.  Often a lot of time.  But reviewing the dialogue was enough to trigger sufficient red flags to warrant a second look and an alternative route for Sally’s career.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>